Tehran
(AFP) - President Hassan Rouhani vowed on Friday that Iran would boost
its missile capabilities despite warnings from Washington that it is
ready to ditch a landmark nuclear deal over the issue.
His
comments came as Iran displayed a new missile at a military parade
marking the anniversary of the outbreak of its devastating 1980-1988 war
with Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
"Whether
you like it or not, we are going to strengthen our military
capabilities which are necessary for deterrence," Rouhani said in a
speech broadcast live on state television.
"We
will strengthen not only our missiles but also our air, land and sea
forces... When it comes to defending our country, we will ask nobody for
their permission."
Iran
has said repeatedly that it has no choice but to boost its defences as
its regional rivals Israel and Saudi Arabia sign huge arms contracts
with Washington and other Western governments.
Rouhani
hit out at those who "create problems for the peoples of our region
every day and boast of selling arms to the bloodthirsty Zionist regime
which has been attacking the peoples of our region for 70 years like a
cancerous tumour."
Criticism
by the Donald Trump administration of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran
and major powers, including the United States, has focused heavily on
Tehran's continuing missile programme.
Tehran
says that the missiles are entirely legitimate under the terms of the
deal as they are not designed to carry a nuclear warhead.
But
Washington says they breach the spirit of the agreement as they have
the potential to carry a nuclear warhead and has imposed new sanctions
over Tehran's continuing launches and tests.
There
has been some sympathy for the US position from France, whose President
Emmanuel Macron said the deal could be expanded to ban missile tests
and cut a sunset clause in the nuclear agreement that would see Iran
resume some uranium enrichment from 2025.
But even he insisted that the core deal not be dumped.
- New missile displayed -
Iran showed off a new missile, named Khoramshahr after a southwestern city, at an anniversary military parade in the capital.
"The
Khoramshahr missile has a range of 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) and
can carry multiple warheads," the official IRNA news agency quoted
Revolutionary Guards aerospace chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh as
saying.
Iran
says all of its missiles are designed to carry conventional warheads
only and has limited their range to a maximum of 2,000 kilometres,
although commanders say they have the technology to go further.
That makes them only medium-range but still sufficient to reach Israel or US bases in the Gulf.
Thus
far, the UN nuclear watchdog and the US State Department have reported
that Tehran has complied with the terms of the nuclear deal.
But
Trump, who this week described the deal as an "embarrassment", is due
to report to the US Congress on October 15 on whether or not he believes
that Iran is in compliance.
If,
as now appears increasingly likely, he decides that it is not, it could
open the way for renewed US sanctions and perhaps the collapse of the
agreement.
Trump said on Wednesday he had made his decision but was not yet ready to reveal it.
Washington
has also taken aim at what it says is Tehran's failure to meet
expectations that it would play a more stabilising role in the Middle
East.
"Regrettably,
since the agreement was confirmed we have seen anything but a more
peaceful, stable region and this is a real issue," Secretary of State
Rex Tillerson told reporters at the United Nations.
Washington
has been particularly concerned about Iran's heavy intervention in
Syria on the side of the government of President Bashar al-Assad and its
support for Shiite rebels in Yemen who control the capital in defiance
of its Saudi-backed government.
But Rouhani ruled out any change of policy in the region.
"Whether you like it or not, we are going to defend the oppressed peoples of Yemen, Palestine and Syria," he said.